


a date with destiny

by neon



Category: Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-16 00:42:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29445012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neon/pseuds/neon
Summary: The floating gondola held the two of them high in the air above the Gold Saucer."It’s beautiful, isn’t it?" Aerith sighed.Inside was awash with pretty rainbow colors. If Aerith looked long enough, she could catch the faint lantern glow of Cloud’s eyes. Swimming in the dark, like the afterimage of the fireworks against the night sky that he’d been watching, too. Cloud turned his face from the window when he figured out Aerith was no longer looking with him, but looking at him.
Relationships: Aerith Gainsborough/Cloud Strife
Comments: 6
Kudos: 30





	a date with destiny

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Aerith Week 2021, Day 8: It's a Date!

The floating gondola held the two of them high in the air above the Gold Saucer.

"It’s beautiful, isn’t it?" Aerith sighed.

Inside was awash with pretty rainbow colors. If Aerith looked long enough, she could catch the faint lantern glow of Cloud’s eyes. Swimming in the dark, like the afterimage of the fireworks against the night sky that he’d been watching, too. Cloud turned his face from the window when he figured out Aerith was no longer looking with him, but looking at him.

Everything that night had happened the same. Aerith had come to a decision. She was going to tell Cloud. Whatever she knew was about to happen. Even if the cloaked Whispers flowed from the cracks of the boards under her feet to smother her, she was going to try.

"I didn’t listen, you know."

Cloud was so soft-spoken, she almost lost his words in the boom of another rocket.

"Didn’t listen?" Aerith asked.

"That’s right…"

Cloud uncrossed his arms, and leaned over his lap, one hand curling inside the other. Gruffly, he confessed.

"When you told me not to… when you said it wasn’t real."

"…Cloud…"

Aerith was interrupted by fireworks. Waiting for the round to end, she perched close to the edge of the bench where she sat across from Cloud, and leaned in the space between. Cloud blinked slowly, taking her in and how close she was. Taking in the way she gradually tilted her face toward his, for only one possible reason.

"Well… Shall we make it real?"

Their faces were so near, Aerith could tell Cloud held his breath. Keeping her voice to a whisper, with a small grin Aerith reminded him.

"You kissed me once tonight already, you know." He’d made a very good prince — just as spectacular on stage as that night at the Honeybee Inn.

"That — that was different."

"Is that so?"

Aerith ignored his protest. She lowered her lashes to her cheeks, and drew her eyes closed. She waited.

There was a quiet creak, from Cloud’s leather glove as his hand closed in on itself. There was a rustle of fabric, as he shifted nearer on the wooden seat. Still, Aerith was kept waiting.

She sang softly, "I’m right here, Cloud…"

His voice was as low of a hush. "I know that…"

He kissed her. He kissed her, and without words, finally had his say.

Their lips clung, until the very last moment when Cloud pulled away to look over Aerith. He didn’t say anything, and then he asked, "That bad, huh?"

She shook her head, laughing feebly while brushing from her chin the runoff tear. If her hand was wet with it still when she took Cloud’s in both of hers, that was all right. She held on and bowed her head over them.

"Hey… you okay?"

Aerith knew what was coming, after this. What was waiting, once they got off the gondola ride. Please, _please_ let it be different, she prayed, Let this moment, this difference, this wonderful difference, be a sign that the future isn’t etched in stone.

"Aerith." She sniffed, softly. After a moment staring at her, Cloud’s grip became firm.

"You asked us to help you change fate. So we’ll change it. That means whatever comes after this ride…"

His eyes shut, painfully. He knew. Without Aerith telling him, he knew. The headaches he got, maybe he’d known for a while.

When he reopened his eyes, there was a solemn vow in them. "I won’t let it happen. Not to you."

The gondola lowered until gliding to a stop. They’d returned to the gate. Aerith and Cloud drew their hands apart.

"Thank you, Cloud."

Aerith stood first. Her hand faltered before the latch, not yet ready, for what waited on the other side.

She turned back, to look for Cloud. The lights from the far-off sky still reached them, dimly, and the faint colors that bounced off the wooden surfaces swam over Cloud’s bowed head. He almost looked like he was praying, himself.

"C’mon, Cloud," Aerith encouraged him. Fate could be changed. It would be. "We’ve got a date with destiny, haven’t we?"

Cloud at last rose. He opened the door Aerith couldn’t. His back became shadowed, framed by the sudden bright light beyond the exit. The floor somehow seemed to stretch between them, as he walked inexorably ahead of her.

"Yeah… Let’s go."

**Author's Note:**

> So if it wasn't obvious, this is very much playing with the idea that SPOILERS: Cloud is more in trouble than Aerith, in Remake.
> 
> @highfivestrife (nsfw)


End file.
